Page 55 - Studio International - December 1967

purist direction in recent sculpture, for instance, economy of form results not in poverty but rather tremendous energy into the four corners, up and
the Guggenheim offers proper criticism. For me, in a richly suggestive spatial extension. Although down, of his staked-out space, and there are, aside
it was a singular pleasure to see, well exhibited this deep red, fundamentally triangular conception from the excellent selection of works by David
for once, a sculpture by Phillip King that per- is composed of only three steel plates, its details Smith, a half-dozen others who prove that assem-
fectly enunciates a contemporary aesthetic. King's (an illusion of overlap that is almost surrealistic; bled metal is still a congenial technique.
Brake is a composition of neutrally-coloured an illusion of compression that is subtly achieved From the spate of works that can be roughly
thin planes construed on a double horizontal axis. through the narrow space left between adjacent characterized as parodic, or fantastic, or organic,
That is, the parallelograms that tilt together as plates) make for an expressive achievement rare or surrealist, it would seem that the traditions
vertical elements are given greater scope by means in this particular medium. feeding into the psyches of the middle generation
of a separate horizontal plane lying detached on the Other impressive purists that contribute to fruit- are very much alive. Going from Oldenburg's
floor. This single separate unit is the means by ful discussion include Ellsworth Kelly, who synesthetic parody of a set of drums, rendered soft
which King claims a large area, virtually speaking, achieves in sculpture what he cannot permit himself and chaotically wilted, to Morio Shinoda's
while taking up a small area in reality. He produces in painting; Larry Bell, whose plate glass box Tension and Compression, in which two horn shapes
with admirable economy a variety of spatial sen- almost moves out of the object category with its are the stanchions for a strange suspended banner
sation, not the least of which is the illusion of depth irridescent effusions; and Robert Morris. The form, to Peter Agostini's cage of squirming plaster
provided by the placement and truncation of these latter, with his series of steel I-beam units, speaks balloons (curiously duplicated, by the way, in
narrow planes. This is a skillful use of the associ- for a whole tendency which, to paraphrase Piotr Kowalsky's caged forms), to Kenneth Armi-
ations with vanishing-point perspective lingering Clement Greenberg's 'homeless abstraction', might tage's delightful Bed, it is not difficult to come to the
in our memories. be called homeless architecture. conclusion that light, movement and virtual volu-
King's skill and assurance are matched by There are gradations in purism, of course, and I mes notwithstanding, for many the shaping hand
Robert Murray in Windfall, where the striking would signal a whole class of intermediate work. is still the instrument of wit.
Perhaps the only weak group of works is in the
figurative tradition. Here, the amazingly bom-
bastic work of Ipousteguy, and the rather dull
literalism of Segal, do seem to sound the death
knell of human figuration in sculpture.

I cannot resist registering my enthusiasm for
John Walker, who, together with three other
British artists, Michael Kindner, Bruce Tippett
and Michael Tyzack, exhibited at the BETTY
PARSONS GALLERY.
It seems to me that Walker is one of a small
family of artists throughout the world who have
the gift of metaphysical insight without the
pedantry that usually accompanies avowed meta-
physical painting. By metaphysical, I mean the
orthodox metaphysical tradition, established by
De Chirico, but only now finding legitimate heirs.
This tradition allows for great latitude of imagery
and technique, demanding only that the artist
convey a sense of mystery, of distancing, of
`otherness', that is ruled out in most contemporary
painting styles.
Walker fulfills these imperatives with rare
sensitivity. Although there were only two major
works exhibited, I have the feeling that his images
are consistently mysterious and allusive. Blackwell,
for instance, is a pyramidal shape — already sug-
gesting remote experiences, reaching back into a
truly misty past. It is painted with infinite delicacy
in cloudy greys with greenish overtones, suggesting
a mirror-like illusion that is completely consonant
with the De Chirico emphasis on dream and
doubling. The ambiguities of form, emphasized by
the wavering grid of red chalky line, are extremely
suggestive, but at the same time serve perfectly as
Facing page, left Phillip King This would include Clement Meadmore's bulky abstract pictorial schemes.
Brake 1966, Fibreglass, 7 x 12 x 16 ft U-shape, turned up in a witty play on form; Another interesting aspect of Walker's painting
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Ronald Bladen's inverted triangle, a huge black is his preference for trapezoidal or rhomboidal
form that miraculously fits the Guggenheim's ramp stretchers, shared by many painters recently. But
Facing page, right Mark Di Suvero and provides a stark and most impelling punctu- in Walker's case the geometric eccentricity of
Sliced Boilermaker 1966/67, Steel, 79 x 83 x 54 in ation to the show; and Eduardo Chillida's splendid canvas shape is a secondary characteristic and
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
play with chunky geometric forms. serves paradoxically to reinforce the essential
The more baroque metal smiths continue to take uniqueness, the occultness, of his image. In other
Above, Kenneth Armitage
an important place. Mark di Suvero's Sliced words, unlike other partisans of the shaped canvas,
The Bed 1965, glass fibre reinforced with polyester
resin, 65 x 35+ x 48 in. Boilermaker is his most powerful sculpture to date, Walker seems interested only in the illusionistic aid
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum its rusty iron members thrusting themselves with the shape provides and not in the shape per se.